


Does this count as a Diaval character study?

by Warpcorps



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Genderfluid Character, Genderqueer Character, It Pronouns, Nobody - Freeform, Nonbinary Character, Other, POV Third Person, diaval is a fucking bird ok so i'm using it pronouns and this is gonna be a journey in gender, diaval's pronouns are gonna change some but idk what to, gonna add archive warnings later because IDK what archive warnings apply in diaval's POV?, is a tag now, journey in gender, just posting this as i write it, maybe stefan, more tags/rating to be added, nobody in this is cis, stefan is the token cis, we hate stefan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-31
Updated: 2015-01-31
Packaged: 2018-03-09 18:59:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3260861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warpcorps/pseuds/Warpcorps
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Writing a fic while I'm watching a movie: each chapter is a scene with Diaval in it. (my child, my precious bab, my spouse)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The raven had passed probably a week since it saw Maleficent, the protector of the Moors and by extension itself, in the ruins of a building on the border’s edge. The Moors were worried for her, but would not tell her for fear of upsetting her even more and making her retreat further into herself.  
So distracted was the raven that it stayed on the ground in its chosen wheat field just a bit too long, getting trapped in a net. Its death was a sure thing.  
Behind him was an unheard whisper of “Into a man” and the bird’s world instantly changed forever.  
The bird thrashed about as the farmer ran away, yelling “It’s a demon!” in a frightened tone.  
The raven thought that the farmer was a bit slow on the uptake, as he was the one to bring the dogs with him in the first place.  
On top of its sudden freedom from the net, the bird had never felt so cold before. A quick look at itself explained why. Its feathers were missing. As were its wings and claws. It was also about as high as it was a fraction of a moment before landing for its dinner, which ended in becoming entangled in the farmer’s net.  
Apparently the raven was not a raven anymore.  
Shit.  
The dogs were gone, at least.  
As was the farmer.  
The not-bird, in its confusion, looked at its new body with scrutiny. It didn’t like what it saw. Belatedly, it recognized Maleficent and figured she must have been the one to change him.  
“What have you done to my beautiful self?” was the only thing that sprang to mind at first.  
“Would you rather I let them beat you to death?”  
“I’m not certain.”  
“Stop complaining. I saved your life.” That was the response. Despite the fact that the not-bird actually was not certain whether it would rather be dead at the moment, it realized that to her at least, it seemed an act of kindness. Now they were both of them stuck without wings.  
“Forgive me.”  
“What do I call you?” This was an interesting question, as birds do not tend to have names. The not-bird (Man? Human, at least.) didn’t think on it much, and went with instinct, as creatures are prone to do.  
“Diaval. And in return for saving my life, I am your servant. Whatever you need.” It had always felt as if it were her servant anyway, and this was equal to any loyalty anyone in the Moors had for her, their protector.  
“Wings. I need you to be my wings.”  
Diaval was not prepared for how easy its task would be, and after Maleficent clothed it to her liking, they left the field at each others’ sides.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stefan's coronation and Maleficent's reaction

“I present to you, the first of his line, his royal highness, King Stefan,” with the words of the bishop, the new reign was official. Stefan smirked, and Diaval had enough.   
Diaval flew from its perch on the windowsill to its mistress. In the hours since it had formally entered her servitude, it had done as much surveillance as possible over the land of Men, which it found ridiculous as the fae had never in all history needed to attack the Men, only to defend themselves.  
Orders were orders, though, and what better orders than ones that only required slightly more activity than during a normal day?  
On its way back to its mistress, Diaval did not encounter any trouble, but it was nightfall before its return.  
“He did this to me so he would be king.”  
Overall, Maleficent was less wrathful than expected when she found out the news.  
Sure she caused a glowing green tornado, but she could have made it hail or something.  
Her enraged screaming could be heard from the other side of the neighboring kingdom, but so could a lot of things. The thunder and wind from the glowing green tornado, for example. Its lightning could be seen from those distances as well.   
Overall, she was definitely less angry than expected.  
“Now what, mistress?” Diaval whispered. Just because she was less angry than expected didn’t mean she wasn’t piss-your-pants terrifying.  
Maleficent stalked away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maleficent takes over the Moors

Come morning, she and Diaval made their way to the center of the Moors, Maleficent destroying stone walls left by humans along the way. As they approached, a darkness like night fell across the land. Creatures gasped and cowered as Maleficent came near. She set up her throne in the area where normally she and the other fae used to discuss how to interact with the neighboring kingdom. This was the first time her neighbors, now subjects, had seen her without her wings, and they were afraid.   
They were afraid of what this could mean, afraid of what power the humans had. They were afraid that this would change her. The thing they were most afraid of, though, was of how horrible it must be inside Maleficent’s mind that she was seemingly unconsciously plunging all of the Moors into what seemed to be a permanent nightfall.  
On each side of Maleficent’s throne stood her classically handsome guards. Made of trees, vines, and other plant life, Balthazar and his companion would attempt to protect Maleficent from any further wrongs.  
But the damage was done, Maleficent would be taking all of the Moors with her into despair and mourning.  
Diaval perched on Maleficent’s right armrest, symbolically placing itself as her so-called “right-hand man.”  
The fae bowed and cowered before their new queen.  
This would be the way it was for years to come.


	4. Chapter 4

“It’s a girl!” a maid at the palace announced to the women at their spinning wheels.  
The servants began their chatter, abandoning their posts. Diaval flew from hers (Diaval was surrounded by women no matter where she was, so obviously she must be one as well now) on the clothesline hanging bedsheets and off to tell her mistress.  
As Diaval reached Maleficent, who was lovely standing by a lake at the end of a waterfall, she cawed so as not to startle her mistress. This was how she warned Maleficent she came bearing bad news. Neither of them had wanted such a terrible fury as had happened the last time.   
Maleficent had somewhat cooled off from her temper from Diaval’s first mission, but it had taken two years. Now that recovery was all about to come crashing down.  
Diaval stumbled as Maleficent changed her into her human form, nearly kneeling in front of Maleficent, as was her place as servant, despite what it looked like to the outside world.  
Diaval would do anything for Maleficent. Anything she desired.  
“Well?”  
“Well, I saw nothing, but….there’s been a… um...”  
“What?”  
“Ch...child. King Stefan and the queen have had a child.”  
“Oh.” Maleficent raised her head, betrayal and pain clear on her face as her former love for Stefan was thrown in her face all over again.  
“There’ll be a christening. They say it’s to be a grand celebration.”  
“A grand celebration. For a baby. How wonderful.”   
Diaval began to regret telling her mistress the news in the first place; if this went the way she suspected it was to be, Maleficent would become a cold-blooded murderer of a child.


	5. Chapter 5

This wasn’t like the Maleficent that Diaval had come to know over the past two years with her. Maleficent in her usual demeanor was kind, charming, and humorous.   
Aside from having taken over the Moors in a rather horrifying manner, Maleficent was generally a good ruler, trying to care for her subjects’ needs and wants. It was obvious she was not inherently suited to the job of ruling, but she could manage it very well and it kept her mind off of other things.  
Halfway into their first year together, Maleficent told DIaval the story of what Stefan had done to her in full, without leaving out details or letting Diaval make incorrect assumptions.   
That was when Diaval decided that no matter the opinion of people around her or what her body that Maleficent had crafted for her showed, she would never truly be a man if that is what they had the power to do.  
They had made a comfortable, if somewhat imbalanced in terms of power, friendship. Diaval truly wanted nothing more than to make Maleficent happy and Maleficent was willing to dote on anyone close by if they were deserving of it and if she could pretend it was merely for her amusement.  
Diaval did not mind at all that sometimes what Maleficent needed most was to stoke feathers and remember what it was like to fly. After all, Diaval had promised to be her wings.  
On the first anniversarry of Stefan’s coronation, Maleficent had put Diaval into her human form for the day, held her, and cried for hours on end. Diaval had of course made sure that her mistress ate enough to last the day and that when Maleficent did eventually go to sleep, she had someone to watch over her.  
Stubborn fairy she was, Maleficent still kept her nest in the same tree, only now it was at the base. Over time, she and Diaval had worked out that they were both more comfortable when they slept in the nest together, with Diaval closer to the exposed side so that she could protect them both from anyone who wished to do either of them any harm.  
A year and a half after the coronation, Maleficent and Diaval had shared their first kiss. It was everything Diaval hadn’t known that she wanted. It was sweeter than nectar and as tender as a flower petal still damp from the morning’s dew. She knew that Maleficent wasn’t ready to truly return any affections, but she also knew any physical comfort she could provide Maleficent would be worth the emotional pain of knowing it did not mean the same thing to both of them.  
And so they continued to sleep together, except more tangled than before.  
Diaval truly believed that they could someday be in love.


End file.
